Cogito Ergo Sum

Post navigation

Our Voting Privacy — VIOLATED!!!

Although there was no credible evidence of major or wide-spread voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election, the person who won that election claims there was. I see this as a smoke screen to hide the bigger issue that Russia, probably with assistance from Trump and many associated with his campaign, actually DID interfere with the election. But the Russian interference is another story and has been much-covered already. Donald Trump, based on his false claims of voter fraud, formed a ‘Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’ to take a magnifying glass and look for those mostly non-existent fraudulent voters. Trump established the commission on 11 March via one of his multitude of ‘executive orders’. A waste of taxpayers’ money, to be sure, but so are Trump’s weekly golf outings.

This commission has now, however, crossed a line. On Wednesday, all 50 states were sent letters* from Kris Kobach, the vice chair of the commission, requesting information on voter fraud, election security and copies of every state’s voter roll data. The letter asked state officials to deliver the data within two weeks, and says that all information turned over to the commission will be made public. The letter does not explain what the commission plans to do with voter roll data. The data they requested would include:

Name

Address

Date of birth

Party affiliation

Last four digits of social security number

Voting history from 2006 thru present

Information regarding felony convictions

Information regarding military status

The first three on the list are not atypical and not of particular concern, though I do not wish John Q. Public knowing my address. And even party affiliation is easily accessible, as most states make this information available to political campaigns … for a fee. What is disturbing, however, is the request for social security number, even though it is only the last four digits, that number is the key to everything about us and should be safeguarded. And the most disturbing item on the list is the request for ten years’ voting history! This blows to shreds the theory of a secret ballot, the theory that nobody should know how we voted unless we choose to share that information, and in this case we are not being given that choice.

The notation that the information will be made public is potentially a disaster, and very concerning, since obviously little or no consideration of privacy rights has gone into this. Unfortunately, many may have failed to even notice this story because all the headlines have been focused on Trump’s ugly, sexist tweets against a member of the media. Did he do that as a smoke screen? It’s too bad that we automatically question his motives every time he opens his mouth or engages his tiny tweeting fingers, but history has shown us to trust nothing he says or does.

Some states and civil rights groups were not pleased by this letter:

“I have no intention of honoring this request. Virginia conducts fair, honest, and democratic elections, and there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in Virginia.” – Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe

Connecticut’s Secretary of State, Denise Merrill, said she would “share publicly-available information with the Kobach Commission while ensuring that the privacy of voters is honored by withholding protected data. [Kobach] has a lengthy record of illegally disenfranchising eligible voters in Kansas … given Secretary Kobach’s history we find it very difficult to have confidence in the work of this Commission.”

“The concern is that this is going to be used to justify regressive and disenfranchising federal law. Why does a random member of the public . . . need to know when you last voted and what your political party is? I think that access to this data in the wrong hands could always leave the opportunity for mischief. In this particular instance, I’m worried about harassment as well.” – Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the democracy program at New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice

Vanita Gupta, chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and former head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said on Twitter that the letter is “laying the groundwork for voter suppression, plain & simple.”

“You’d think there would want to be a lot of thought behind security and access protocols for a national voter file, before you up and created one. This is asking to create a national voter file in two weeks.” – Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola University School of Law and former Department of Justice civil rights official.

My concerns are multi-fold. First, of course, is the plan to make this information public — a move that could compromise our personal security. Second, and of perhaps in the long run of even greater concern, is that I do not trust Donald Trump. He claims that the Democrats and the press are engaged in a conspiracy against him, so … if given easy access to our political affiliation and our voting record for the last ten years, what mischief might he perpetuate against those who are registered Democrats, or who voted for someone other than Trump last year? And third, there is Kobach himself.

This picture in itself makes me distrust Mr. Kobach!

Kris W. Kobach serves as the Kansas Secretary of State, a position he has held since 2011. He is known for his hardliner views on immigration, as well as his calls for greater voting restrictions and a Muslim registry. Kobach regularly makes claims about the extent of voter fraud in the United States that several nonpartisan studies have shown are unsubstantiated. I would almost call him a conspiracy theorist. He has implemented some of the strictest voter ID legislation in the nation and has fought to remove nearly 20,000 properly registered voters from the state’s voter rolls. He was also a part of Trump’s conspiracy over the faux ‘birther’ issue, questioning President Obama’s place of birth.

Kobach did, after much time and money wasted on researching voter fraud, successfully secure convictions in nine cases of voter fraud … the nine individuals were not illegal immigrants but rather most were older registered Republicans!

Last October, a federal judge ruled that some of Kobach’s proposed ID requirements constituted a “mass denial of a fundamental constitutional right.” And earlier this month, a Judge James O’Hara fined Kobach $1,000 for presenting misleading arguments in a voting-related lawsuit. This man sees illegal voters behind every tree, it seems, and apparently has no qualms about disenfranchising thousands with his restrictive voter I.D. laws.

The chairman of the commission is none other than Mike Pence, who seems to be taking a backseat and letting Kobach run the commission. So, to recap, the three main people involved with collecting our data and using it in ways that we are not being told, then making it publicly available, are Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Kris Kobach, each of whom are proven racists, and highly untrustworthy individuals. I call on every state official who may be involved in the decision, to decline to accede to the demands of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.We The People do not trust the members of this commission and do not want our information shared with them. Okay, folks, time to start sending those emails and making those phone calls again!

Update: As of this writing, at least 3525 27 states are refusing to comply!

This is why the fool in the Whitehouse should not come over here to visit. He would be in danger of having the voting system explained to him.
1. Local council sends letter to the house. Are you still living there folks? Assume you say ‘Yes’
2. Before voting day you get a card.
3. You take the card to the polling station.
4. You hand it in, in return you get a little piece of paper with the names of the candidates on.
5. You go into a triangular booth, where no one can see anyone.
6. You vote.
7. You drop the paper into a locked metal box.
I’m sure the idea of a system (with its flaws) that manages to deliver suffrage without all those hoops, would scare a few pounds off of that disgusting gut, which I expect he is perversely proud of.

What a marvelously simple, yet functional system you have over there, Roger! Over here, we have an innate desire to make everything so complex that nobody can understand it, so people just give up and stay home. Perhaps that is the whole idea?
And yes, I almost captioned Trump’s golfing picture with “Bun in the oven???” But … thought that might be undignified on my part. 🙂

Kudos to those 27 states for resisting. As you point out, Jill, there are many concerning angles. Another…

Kris Kobach also devised Cross Check, a Republican strategy, which has already effected elections. If the same name appears on two different state voter rolls, the voters are bumped off in each state. Guess what? A lot of names are very common, but it doesn’t mean they are the same people.

Greg Palast has been talking about this for a long time. He is not a nut. He was recently interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!

Yes, I read about that, but just didn’t include it. And now there is another on the commission who looks like trouble, but I have yet to look into it. Sigh. I hear Trump let out a rant today about the states who are refusing to comply, saying that they must have something to hide. Oh for Pete’s sake!!!

Yes, I believe that also. A fear of loss … or … rather like that ‘only one cookie’ that I was going to indulge in … a taste only creates a desire for yet another … and another. I think power and wealth are both like this … a taste just creates a desire for ever more, and before long there is no limit to what the person will do to further his own ends. But … what’s the answer? I have no idea. 😦

Too many spoiled brats in the White House and Congress? Reset appropriate boundaries. Replace politicians with those who are running on real issues and policies and are committed to fight corruption. We will never solve any of the problems in our country until we get the nefarious hold of Big Money out of politics. Happy 4th of July!

Dear Jill,
Great reporting, as always!
In my opinion, there is a concerted effort in play, by republicans to suppress the vote, otherwise this Trump era (hopefully) is the last hurrah of a bunch of grumpy old White men who want to relive their good ole days. The demographic landscape is not in the republicans’ favor and this is just one way to blunt the inevitable.
I had already scheduled a blog on this issue but from a different perspective.
Hugs, Gronda

Thank you, Gronda!!! Yes, I think there is mischief afoot, and frankly I do not trust these bullies to safeguard our information. I told my daughter, with this information, all registered democrats might go to the polls next November only to find they have been ‘un-registered’! I am pleased, though, that the states are taking a stand. I hear Trump was fairly angry over that! I will be looking for your piece! We work well together … covering different angles and perspectives! Hugs!!!

Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
This is VERY SERIOUS! It’s very important that we stay informed about this ….it’s another chipping away at the sacred institution & building block of this country! Don’t let this go! ✊🏽

Yes, I often use the analogy that they would rather sit in front of their television watching Duck Dynasty and stuffing their face full of potato chips than to learn what is going on in the world. Sigh … these are the very people I am trying to reach, but I cannot! And even when I do, they just tell me, as one did on Friday, that they wish I would be run over by a truck. Sigh. I try … it is all I can do.